32 degrees at 39 Steps

Yesterday was the hottest day of the season so far and at one point in the afternoon the temperature reached 32 degrees. A burning sun and a still day meant that whilst it was obvious that all of our rods at Lower were catching fish throughout the day, I was slightly concerned as to what news there would be from the other camps – an unnecessary worry.

Middle had their best day of the week so far with 130 fish recorded to the 12 rods. Paul C had 20 for his day having had a particularly busy session at Korevi Pots. Stephen C also did very well landing 17 to his rod whilst Chris C took 14. Several of the rods have been coming for a long time and reported that they had seen more fish running yesterday than they had in many a year.

John G with one from Kitza

The same was true here at Lower. After a delicious picnic on Jannaways, we walked down to the Beach with Jonathan D and Simon J. Leaving Simon on Red Rocks, Jonathan went on to the Beach where the river was simply alive with salmon showing everywhere. Between the two of them they played 14 fish and landed 8 – a great fun session in a day where we recorded 49 in total.

Joe M yesterday with a fish that was weighed at 15lbs

At 7pm we flew over to Kitza and it was obvious from the grins on everyone’s faces that they had had a pretty special day. They boated up to Rackmans which is a long way up but with channels dug through Tricolore, they got up there fairly easily. The 9 rods then proceeded to have a bonanza - 84 fish were recorded which I think is a record for a day at Kitza. Andrew W-D landed 21 of these with Bruce B and John G contributing 13 and 15 respectively. Being lake fed, the Kitza tends to hold its water for longer than the tundra fed Varzuga and all of the clients who are now here at Lower were hugely enthusiastic about the fishing and the stunning scenery over there.

Upstream from Kitza camp last night

Pana also had a cracking day with the 8 rods landing 50 fish. Benjamin B netted a 16lbs fish from White Rock and the float trip was a great success. The two rods landed 14 fish between them and caught fish all the way from the Old Bridge back to the camp.

Another very hot day has dawned today and everyone has gone out with big smiles and hopes are high that the fishing remains as consistent as the weather.

Charlie White

The weather doesn’t change but nor does the fishing

It feels as if we are in the middle of a major heat wave up here at the moment. Day time temperatures of around 20 degrees and bright blue skies give the impression that we should all be donning shorts as opposed to waders but fortunately the fishing remains excellent and putting on waders is no chore at all.

The team at Pana landed 50 fish yesterday with Jose FM putting 13 of these in the book whilst Pablo PR had a beautiful fish of around 16lbs from Ivan’s. They are boating down to Ponzoi at the moment but for how much longer the head guide is not sure. This would normally be slight cause for concern as Ponzoi can be very productive but the fish are all around the camp at the moment so it is not such a pressing issue. Two rods are going up to the Old Bridge today for the stunning float trip back to camp and it will be very interesting to see how they get on.

Mark M with a cracker from the Beach

The 9 rods at Kitza had another excellent day with Peter H landing 13 fish from a total of 51. They too are going up river this morning to take a picnic all the way up to Rackmans and beyond to see if the fish have reached the higher beats yet. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole river system and regardless of how many fish they catch, I know it will be one of the highlights of the week that will be discussed over dinner here tonight once we have done the mid week changeover.

Bob M with one from the Wires

Middle continues to be very productive and they landed over 110 fish yesterday. Quite a few rods were out after Hugh had gone to bed and many were up before breakfast this morning so final numbers are hard to ascertain but it was obvious they had all done well. David C had 7 in the morning from Green Bank followed by 8 in his afternoon session on Royal Dee whilst Chris C landed 13 from Snake Pit down to Peartiha. Brian W also weighed in with 11 fish for his day showing that there are fish in all of the beats up there.

Michael G on Heli with Colin S

At Lower the team put 44 in the book with some really nice fish landed. Bob M has been coming for a few years now and put his knowledge of the beats to good use, landing 14 throughout the day. We are splitting the teams up so that we can cover the river as best we can as boating below Bearlets is now no longer possible. 5 of us had a picnic on Bear Island yesterday and as we watched Arctic Terns dive on the smolt run it was hard to think of a better place to have lunch.

Sobacci Rapids yesterday - hard to believe that 20 days ago it was a raging torrent

Another boiling day today means that we are short on suncream but we remain long on cold beer and fish in the river so we have things in the right order.

Charlie White

Great fishing and a few firsts

We had a really good days fishing yesterday across all of the camps – the morning was better than the afternoon for reasons we cannot work out but everyone caught fish and with another day of bright sunshine it was a lovely day to be on the river.

The team at Pana landed 40 fish to their 8 rods with Carlos MA landing his first ever salmon and then going on to land another one in the afternoon. As is always the case at Pana, they landed some really good fish with plenty in the mid teens. The water is dropping a couple of inches per day and they are fishing floating lines already which is early for Pana as it tends to be slightly cooler up there.

Harry M with a good fish from Bear Corner

The 12 rods at Middle have really hit their stride early on in the week. They landed 57 fish after the helicopter landed on Saturday evening and had another 121 in the book for yesterday. I asked Hugh if there was anyone who we should highlight having done particularly well. He said he would double check in the book and 5 minutes later read out 12 names! In the end we should probably pick out Robert H with his 15 fish for the day.

Simon J on Jannaways

At Kitza there was another first ever fish and this time it was Lucy M who was the star performer. Having done little to no fishing in the past, Tom took her out for an hour’s lesson in the morning and left her to get on with it for a while. 20 minutes later he came back to find her white with excitement having hooked and landed her first ever salmon. In fact, it was her first ever fish full stop. As with Carlos, there was no stopping her and she landed another in the afternoon to cap off a great start to her fishing career. Kitza fished really well yesterday and the 9 rods finished with 63 fish – their best day of the season so far.

Mark M into one of his 9 fish yesterday

Here at Lower we had a really good day and the 10 rods landed 56 salmon. Mark M had 9 of those which was a particularly good effort as he and his son Harry had been traveling for the best part of 48 hours by time they started fishing having been affected by the problems at Heathrow. Simon J also did very well on his first full day of salmon fishing with a fly and had 7 in the book before calling it a day. He was out early this morning and hooked 5 fish before breakfast but each had got the upper hand on him and he was determined to convert more of his chances later on today.

Low water = busy mechanic. Glenn at 10pm last night

Boring though it is to report, it is another bright day today. Slightly cold but the huge blue skies above us show no sign of changing – it does not seem to be affecting the fishing in any sense but we could do with some rain to make boating up and down the river that much easier.

Charlie White

Changeover day

Yesterday was a busy for day us and clients alike. We flew out of the camps at 8am and it was great to catch up with all of the clients before they flew home. It is always fun hearing the experiences that everyone has had throughout the week and it was particularly gratifying that so many people are already looking forward to returning next year.

All of the camps fished well last week with Michael E and his team, who started here at Lower, finishing with 386 fish to the 10 rods. We picked them up from Kitza in the morning and it was not long before one or two were fast asleep having had a particularly good and particularly late party on the last night.

Alan M on the Wires on the last afternoon

The team who started at Kitza and then finished at Lower recorded a total of 295 to their 10 rods. Our last night was not quite as wild as many of them fished late into the night to make the most of their time. After supper we were fortunate enough to have Valentine come down from the village who entertained us with his accordion before waders were donned for those final few fish.

Valentine and his trusty accordion

The team at Middle finished the week with 556 salmon for the 12 rods. Peter W landed over 100 of these with his fishing partner also doing very well. Peter A hooked a huge fish on Pashas on Friday which took him 200 yards into the backing before a rather violent “ping” signalled the end of the affair. A great week was had by all and we hope to see many of the same faces this time next year.

With the Heathrow incident we have had clients arriving from all sorts of different directions but everyone is now in their respective camps; tired but happy to be here.

Mark B on Middle

It was very good to see our Spanish team, who are returning to Pana, as we always look forward to seeing them. They normally relax on the first evening and don’t fish but having spoken to Damian this morning it was clear that the temptation of seeing fish moving just outside the camp was too much and they made an exception this year. 9 fish were put in the book to give them a great start to their week.

Having dropped off the very experienced team at Middle, who went straight out onto the water and had several fish before dinner, we then picked up the clients going to Kitza and Lower. We got to camp later than expected but Simon J went out straight away and landed his first ever salmon on a fly. To prove it was no fluke he got up early this morning and landed another bar of silver before breakfast.

"Your license please" - meeting the guides this morning

It is a different day altogether today with a cold wind and high cloud cover. With water temperatures creeping up to 10-11 degrees everyone has gone out armed with small intermediate tips and a fairly light fly. We can only hope that the fishing this week starts in the same fashion as we finished the last.

Charlie White

Dinner at Middle

After a much better days fishing in all of the camps I went up to Middle Varzuga for dinner. It takes just under an hour to get there by boat and in cold and wet conditions it can feel a long way but last night was the perfect night to go up – cloudless skies and very warm.

A fullish moon and the church in the village at midnight last night

The team at Middle were all in good spirits and many of them have been coming for countless seasons. The common theme was that not many of them had seen the river this low at this time of the year before and they were all enjoying fishing different parts of the beat than normal.

They landed 88 salmon yesterday but it is hard to pick out any one rod as everyone had caught roughly the same numbers and had all done well. They reported that when you found fish you could land 2 or 3 in the same place but that you had to keep moving in order to find them which is exactly the advice I would give to anyone coming here. You should fish quickly and locate the holding spots.

Joe O'D with new guide Ivan at Middle

Kitza had their best day of the season so far and finished with 58 in the book. Ed M had 9 for his day and Hugh N had a really good fish of around 14-15lbs out of Reel pool. Tom was rushed this morning as several clients were out early in the morning and were grabbing a very quick breakfast before heading out again – the last day of the week tends to have that effect.

Greig T during a scorching afternoon

Here at Lower we ended with 66 fish recorded with lots lost as well. John M had 12 fish to his rod whilst his brother Kenny broke his own personal record by landing 6. The beat was producing fish from the top at Wires to the bottom at Morskoy Island and at the end of the afternoon session it was great to sit in the sun and have a cold beer after an action packed day.

David B with a lovely fish from Morskoy

The last day of the week always comes too quickly but we have some longed for cloud cover this morning and hopefully we will finish on a high. We will leave for Murmansk early in the morning so the next blog update will be on Sunday.

Charlie White

Up to Pana

Yesterday we flew up to Pana to help the new camp manager and cook set up the camp. It was great to see Tolli looking so well and the camp looks in good order. The new showers and plumbing are very smart and all 5 boats were in the water just waiting for someone to need them.

The water is quite low for this time of the year and Hippo Rock was well out the water but encouragingly, as we were moving kit into camp, we saw a few fresh fish showing just off the bank – it took all of our will power to focus on setting up the camp and not our rods.

Hippo Rock in the centre of the picture

I flew back into camp just as dinner was about to start and it was clear that some rods had done very well but others had struggled. On catching up with Hugh and Tom this morning, it would appear that everyone had a tougher days fishing yesterday but as Christopher wrote last week, tough is a relative term on the Varzuga.

We finished with exactly 50 fish in the book with Joe L accounting for 7 of them and he lost another 7 as well. Greig T and Alan M continue to be a fishing partnership to be reckoned with and they were both out this morning before breakfast where Greig had 4 and Alan added another to his growing total. John M also landed 4 fish this morning to set the day up nicely.

Damian and Charlotte

Kitza had 30 salmon for the day with Caleb S taking top rod honours by landing 10 of them. Tom said that they had a difficult morning but the afternoon session was much better with many more fish showing throughout the beat.

Middle recorded 79 with John R taking 10 of those. He also had a cracking fish of around 16lbs from Simmons which was measured at 34 inches. Martin L had 7 for his day and there were some early risers this morning out on Generator and Bear.

David S on Lower Sviats

It is a beautiful but very hot day today – the water is creeping up to 10 degrees and we are beginning to arm ourselves with floating lines - everyone was scurrying around after breakfast looking for Sunray Shadows and Collie Dogs and I hope we will see the first fish caught on a skated fly before too long.

Charlie White

Kitza changeover

After a very good days fishing here at Lower we flew over to Kitza to do the mid week changeover. As ever, it was good to see Kitza and to hear the many happy tales of fish lost and landed from the team who are now in camp with us.

Michael E and his team, who started their week at Lower, finished with 255 fish for their 3 days fishing – an excellent total and everyone left here in great spirits, excited to be going over to Kitza where the fish are really starting to build in numbers.

John M on Bear Corner

The team that we picked up had a great days fishing yesterday and landed 40 fish between them with Joe L taking a really chunky fish from Sasha’s. As we had hoped, they reported seeing a lot of fish moving through the bottom of the beat and everybody remarked on the strength of these fresh fish.

Not wanting to waste any time at all, we had a quick dinner and some of the rods went straight out again with Alan M being the star performer taking 4 fish in quick succession from the Wires. Demonstrating admirable stamina, Alan was out before breakfast this morning and had a further 4 fish from Heli pool to show everyone what the river was capable of producing.

Sue C with a nice one from the boat

It is a very cold morning but everyone was out at the boats at exactly 9am in order to make the most of their time here. We are still fishing sink tips and intermediate lines with 1 inch tubes but with the water temperature creeping up to 9 degrees this morning, I expect us to be on floating lines and size 6 flies before too long.

Eric W with one of 6 he landed yesterday

At Middle Varzuga the 12 rods landed 89 salmon yesterday with Paddy F landing 9 fish in his afternoon session. For the first time this week, the higher beats offered some excellent fishing and Hugh, the manager at Middle, is keen to get more rods up there today – it is a stunning part of the river and when the fish are there in numbers it is hard to beat.

Kitza last night

Today we are flying the 80 miles to Pana to take Damian and Charlotte up there to open up the camp before their first guests arrive on Saturday. I will take some pictures of the river and I expect to see Hippo Rock well out of the water.

Charlie White

The fishing continues to impress

Yesterday was one to confound all theories about salmon fishing. Sue C started proceedings by landing 5 fish out of Heli pool before breakfast - at that time the air temperature was considerably colder than the water. We then had barometric pressure that was up and down like a yoyo with a really cold morning followed by a searingly hot afternoon – none of which affected the fishing in the slightest.

We finished our day at Lower Varzuga with 79 salmon landed to the 10 rods with everyone doing well. Graham M, Hugh N and Sue C all landed more fish in a day than ever before and everyone reported that they had seen, hooked, lost and landed some really decent fish. The fish we are seeing are really well conditioned and John M landed one on Beach yesterday morning which he simply described as “salmon perfection”.

Hugh N with Damian who will shortly be going to Pana

Kitza recorded 32 fish for the day with David B taking the honours in the morning by landing 5 fish from Third Island and Goldmine. Encouragingly, Alan M was fishing Sasha’s in the afternoon and took 4 salmon, straight off the tide, in fairly short order and Tom reported seeing lots of fish running through the beat. Despite low water and a big flood, the main run of fish is bang on time.

I spoke to Tom at an earlier than agreed radio time as he arranged a flotilla of boats to take everyone down to the White Sea for a barbecue dinner. There are very few places more atmospheric than down there and he reported that everyone had felt that there was something special about being “at the end of the world”.

Maryke, our cook at Lower, with her first salmon

The 12 rods at Middle Varuzga landed 95 for their day with scores evenly spread across the board. It remains the case that the beats nearer the camp are the most productive but every beat is producing fish. The water is dropping quite quickly and many of the fish are running the middle of the river which does mean that those who can cast a good and straight line will be the most rewarded.

Graham M with one of 5 he landed yesterday

It is a grey day this morning but all are determined to make the most of their final day at Lower and the boats left at 9 o’clock sharp. Tonight we will take our clients over to Kitza and bring those rods back here for the mid week changeover and I will try and get some pictures of the river for those of you coming later in the season.

Charlie White

A superb start to the week

The second week of the season has started in style with all of the camps reporting some great fishing.

Being based at Lower Varzuga, it is inevitable that we hear more first hand accounts of battles won and lost here than we do about the other camps but it was clear that both Hugh and Tom had plenty to tell me and it was highly encouraging to hear their enthusiasm despite a rather crackly radio last night.

At Lower, many of the experienced rods broke their own personal records with Eric W landing 11 in his morning session at Bear Corner whilst Ed M finished with 14 fish for the day. Caleb S was not keen on coming back into dinner and who can blame him as he capped off a brilliant session by landing his 21st fish of the day.

Ed M at the bottom of Bear Island

Over dinner there were many tales of fish lost when firmly hooked which was backed up by Michael E, who has been here countless times and knows the beats intimately, who recounted how he had lost 8 fish in a row on Bear Corner before landing one. We concluded that it was entirely possible that the 10 rods had had encounters with well over 200 fish yesterday with 107 of those actually landed – a great day in every respect.

As regular blog readers will know, getting definite figures from Middle Varzuga is practically impossible as at nearly every hour of the day, at least 1 or 2 rods will be fishing but Hugh said his best estimate was that they were up to around 135 in the book since the team landed on Saturday evening. They most productive fishing is still below Clarks but every day more and more fish are being landed in the higher beats.

John M, fishing with Ed at Bear Island

The day at Kitza was a tale of two halves. They concentrated on the normally productive lower beats in the morning but very little was caught below Sasha’s which is strange for this time of the year. At lunch they decided to head upstream and immediately started finding fish. Understandably the team are keen to go up there today and it will be interesting to see how they get on. They landed 35 for their day with Alan M taking a cracking fish from Gold Mine.

Blogging - Russian style.

It is cold this morning with a biting wind but Sue C landed 5 fish before breakfast from Heli and the weather has not dampened anyone’s enthusiasm. The water temperature is at 8 degrees and dropped only an inch overnight; we are hopeful of a similar day to yesterday.

Charlie White

Great to be back

It is great to be back on the Varzuga and thank you to Christopher for setting up the camps and ensuring that everything is running so smoothly.

The Friday night in Helsinki is very much the beginning of the trip as everyone catches up and discusses the reports from the river. Excitement levels were high and after last week rightly so.

The 10 rods at Lower Varzuga finished their week with 409 salmon to the bank – a superb week of fishing and many of the rods caught their first salmon which is always wonderful to see. Bill Drury was on hand to offer advice to the team and he will be back with Eoin Fairgrieve at the beginning of June for their tuition week which we are much looking forward to.

Caleb S with his first Russian salmon last night

There was a combination of experienced hands and new rods in the team at Middle Varzuga and they had an excellent week, landing 392 fish to the 8 rods. As ever, they worked hard for their fish and were handsomely rewarded.

Our arrival into camp could not have been smoother. A pretty quick customs and immigration queue followed by the short bus ride to the helicopters meant that all of us were in our respective camps by 4pm.

Here at Lower, there was a blur of activity as everyone rushed to set up rods and race down to the river. 6 of the 10 rods landed a fish whilst all were connected at some point or another and we had 13 salmon in the book before dinner – not a bad start.

JP M on Heli yesterday evening

At Middle there was, perhaps for the first time ever, more of a leisurely approach with most of them electing to put their rods up and relax after the journey. However, Peter W was not for stopping and landed 5 before Hugh called him in for supper.

The 10 rods at Kitza also had a fairly leisurely start but had landed 6 fish by the time I spoke to Tom at 7pm.

The land of the midnight sun - 11pm last night

It is a stunning day here today with a light upstream breeze and bright skies. The only blot on the horizon is that the mobile mast is down and this is being sent by satellite phone so don’t panic if you do not hear from your loved ones here – everyone is OK! I am not sure when mobile signal will be restored but will keep you updated.

Charlie White

Brief update

We leave early tomorrow and the rods here at Lower are all in, at Middle a few remain out enjoying a few last casts on the Varzuga.

Robin M into a fish on Heli Pool

It was bright again today with a bit of an upstream wind, we saw masses of fish moving through and landed 65 with Alan J (aged 80) landing 17 to his own rod. Jonathan B had the fish of the week this afternoon, around 14lb – 15lb from The Larder. All have remarked on the quality of the fish, really well grown, very fit and amazingly hard fighting. A great week for this party with 406 bright silver spring salmon landed to 11 rods (4 of whom were totally new to salmon fishing just six days ago) - lots of smiles around the dining table this evening.

Jonathan B with salmon of the week

Middle were reporting 69 to the eight rods at dinner, with a number of guests going out afterwards again. They went up Yovas Rapids today and had fish from Green Bank, so next week I guess Hugh will put it on the rotation.

The water temperature was 8.5⁰ C at close of play and the water down a few inches on yesterday. It looks pretty good for next week and I wish them great success.

A happier team would be hard to find!

More from Charlie once he has his feet under this desk – not many desks have a view over the greatest salmon river of them all! I look forward to being back up here in early June.

Christopher Robinson.

A Taste of Summer

Finally we saw the sun yesterday, a glorious day, bright blue at first and then one of those extraordinary, huge skies you get up here crept in - high up in the stratosphere a massive ribbon of mackerel clouds seemed suspended over us all afternoon.

Maryke with lunch at Bear Corner

A wonderful day to be out fishing albeit not ideal conditions from a catching point of view but we all enjoyed the first taste of summer on the edge of the Arctic Circle. In the evening I went up to Middle Camp to see how they were getting on. The water temperature had climbed to 9⁰C, the team reported seeing a great number of fish moving through but they were harder to catch than previously.

They are pretty keen up there at Middle Camp as Varzuga blog watchers will know and by the time Jemima brought the cheese to the table there were only 3 of us left to enjoy it – the others had politely excused themselves and were scrambling back into waders for a last go down Generator and Bear before the air temperature dropped too far. Hugh did not have a definitive score for me this morning as a few had had another cast or two before breakfast but reckoned they were over 50 again for the eight rods.

Johnathan B at Lower Camp with a beautifully marked hen salmon

Charles H at Lower also had a cast before breakfast this morning and gave us encouragement by banking a cracking fresh fish of 9lbs before his fried eggs and bacon. Yesterday we had 53 salmon at Lower, a good day capped off by a master class of guiding by Feodor. At 18:00 prompt, when the other boats were parking up he dropped anchor off the camp lawn and Michael and Alan had three double hook ups with a gallery of spectators cheering them on.


Double hook up for Alan, Michael and Feodor

Tom at Kitza had an hour on Heli Pool yesterday afternoon, the water temperature, as always on Kitza, was a touch cooler than here at 5⁰C, he landed two fresh salmon on an intermediate tip and a Cascade. There is every prospect of Kitza getting off to a really good start this Saturday.

We depart early tomorrow morning for Murmansk, I’ll try and get a quick update through before we go. Charlie will take over from me and I’ll be back in England for a couple of weeks, deeply envious of those up here on this magic river.

Christopher Robinson

Normal Service Resumes

After a tricky day on Tuesday normal service was resumed yesterday with Middle Camp recording 64 salmon and Lower Camp 67. A much easier day, by no means warm but by midday you could have called it ‘soft’; the evening was overcast, the air temperature held up until almost midnight and it was distinctly fishy.

Arnauld F-M and Volva at Middle

At Middle Julian T hit a really big run of fish coming through Party Pool and had 15 by lunch time, he ended up top rod for the day with 20. Again the beats from Snake Pit and down are fishing best, there was a sort of attempt to get up Yovas Rapids, but I guess that the crackle of radios recording fish caught lower down was too much of a temptation and we have not really explored up-stream yet.

At Lower the start was a bit ragged after a well-deserved late night and we were a couple of men down for some of the day. The Senior Team of Alan J and Michael H had 12 salmon each, the third day out of four that they have each caught exactly the same number, they did much of the damage in Morskoy which was loaded with new fish in the afternoon, Michael had trouble keeping them on and reckoned that if he’d landed all he had hooked he would have had well over 20.

Tim T at Lower

At dinner we knew that Middle Camp were on about 60 for the day and we decided that we had to stay ahead of them (only to please our guides here you’ll understand!), so we took advantage of our warmest evening yet and in an hour and a half added another 7 fish to the book just to be sure that we’d be ahead of Middle. In fact that has been our only ‘out of office hours fishing’ so far.

Today has dawned bright and clear, great to see some sun back. Tom at Kitza was planning some test fishing with Ura today and if I hear from them this evening I’ll let you know how they got on. If it stays bright the water temperature should climb a bit today, the height continues to drop, and that will be the norm unless we get rain.

Oliver L who first fished Varzuga in June 1991!

Floating lines and intermediate or slow sink tips are working well. Flies are the usual eclectic collection according to personal preference, size ought to be 1" - 2". If in doubt use the Ally's Shrimp or similar pattern.

Christopher Robinson

To Kitza

We flew over to Kitza yesterday taking Tom and Donna and a full load of supplies. Ura and Luba were there to greet us; wonderful to see them again and enjoy the peace and quiet of that special place. The camp looked well up together, Ura and the team have been busy building a new store beside the kitchen, the banya floor has been repainted and a new floor put down in the dining/sitting room. With the new wooden dining chairs (like Middle Camp – finally!) it was all looking pretty good.  Donna was thrilled to find a brand new cooker and for Tom there was a new generator. Glenn did a ‘once over’ on all the outboards, we left them a spare one and lots of spare parts then flew back in the evening to Lower Camp.

Kitza Camp Pool

On the way over Tom had a text from David P requesting the breaking news on river height and temperature etc. So, David and all you keen Kitza fishers, here is the news and some rather dull, grey photos – it was that sort of light that I think even Matt Harris would have been challenged to take a decent shot.

The water height looked perfect, just off the scrubby bushes in Heli Pool. The water temperature was 4.5⁰C which was pretty much what we expected. Camp Pool looks a touch high at the moment, it is really a medium/low water pool. From the air Sasha’s Pool was begging to be fished – yet again time did not permit a quick go and we left Tom pretending that he had lots to do and would not fish for a day or so, but knowing full well that as soon as our helicopter noise had faded to the West he would be doing a little test fishing just to satisfy himself that the salmon really were there.

Kitza Heli Pool

As always things can change but the start at Kitza on Saturday looks promising and thankfully no repeat of the very high water of last year.

On Lower and Middle yesterday conditions were tougher – none of us really know why, the fish are here in good numbers but they were just ‘off’ for some reason. But ‘off’ on Varzuga is slightly different compared to other rivers and Lower Camp managed over 50 salmon on the bank. Yet again Richard M showed us how to do it and has now landed 57 salmon in just three days. As I mentioned on the blog yesterday we have some really chunky fish coming through and we had several yesterday well into double figures; every salmon seems to be straight in from the sea, in wonderful condition and with that translucent purple, silver and blue sheen to them.

Roma and Robin M with a really chunky springer

Hugh also reported a trickier day at Middle, they had 38 up to dinner with a few guests determined to go back out afterwards. Bizarrely the pool of choice at this time of year, Clarkes, yielded only one fish for the day – an unheard of event! The water temperature was only 4⁰C yesterday so it is unlikely that the salmon are pushing on fast, but to explore a bit Hugh will push a team or two up Yovas Rapids today to see if there are pods of fish in the many resting places they make use of in the canyon.

Matt L with one of 7 salmon he landed yesterday - his third day salmon fishing!

Today is another rather grey, dull day, quite chilly still and we’d love a day or so of sun. The air temperature is stuck at 5⁰C and the water temperature the same. Jamie has just left to prepare a salmon BBQ at Bear Corner for lunch – not exactly BBQ weather but that has not dimmed his Aussie enthusiasm.

More tomorrow.

Christopher Robinson

Mid May Weather

Much more seasonal weather has set in now, typical for the Kola in mid May, overcast and quite chilly with the day temperatures struggling to get much above 6⁰C - 7⁰C. There was the odd snow flake in the air as the boats set off this morning, but luckily the upstream wind of yesterday has reduced to a breeze and that should make casting a tidy, straight line a touch easier.

Julian T at Middle

I went up to see Middle Camp yesterday evening and found them in very good spirits. Inevitably there were a few rods reluctant to leave the fishing on Generator Pool for Jemima’s delicious dinner, but hunger drove them in eventually and we had a very noisy, jolly evening before setting off on a chilly run, into a strong wind, back down to Lower Camp.

Yesterday Middle landed 65 salmon to their team of eight. All the beats are fishing well although Beach was a bit quieter than normal as was Clarkes. Party Pool continues to be exceptional and Phil J had an extraordinary session there catching four really good fish in succession, all over 10lbs, and all a beautiful, straight from the sea, chrome colour. The new showers in the guest cabins have been received well as have the new dining chairs – one or two of the team mourned the passing of the old plastic ones and said things just were not the same without the chance of your chair collapsing during dinner.

Fishing Party Pool

At Lower Camp Richard M led the charge again with 21 salmon to his rod in the total of 78. Again we saw some really good fish coming through and 39 of the salmon weighed in the 8lb – 12lb bracket. For some reason Wires and Duck, normally great pools at this time of year, are not fishing that well so today Jamie is concentrating his efforts downstream with Morskoy and Sviats being the beats of choice.

Freddie P at Middle

We have caught very few kelts down here at Lower, just a handful, yet up-stream at Middle they are hauling them out with one rod getting 28 in a day. For some reason, despite the huge early flood they seem reluctant to leave the middle river. It bears out our feeling here that the salmon tend to run to the calendar rather than water conditions. Despite the big early flood and now the water being a lot lower than this time last year the main run of fresh fish will no doubt hit us in late May and early to mid June as it always does.

Another bar of silver for Robin M

Today we will take Tom and Donna over to Kitza and tomorrow I will have some photos of the river which we start fishing this Saturday. I'll have the latest news too from Ura about the river and fishing prospects.

Christopher Robinson